Gillian Wasson and Mark Alexander claim top honours at inaugural Seven Sisters Mountain-Trail Marathon!

Seven Sisters Mountain-Trail Marathon 2018:

Ballymena Runners athletes Gillian Wasson and Mark Alexander secured notable victories as Northern Ireland based athletes claimed high placings at the Seven Sisters Mountain-Trail Marathon in County Donegal (Sunday 22nd July 2018).

The Inaugural Seven Sisters Mountain-Trail Marathon covered 42k in distance, incorporating approximately 4,000m (13,000ft) of accumulative ascent; the associated 22k Half Marathon included 2,000m of ascent.

Athletes covered a variety of terrain, including heathery soft ground, sheep tracks, and loose stone and gravel as they negotiated the tough route, which took in the picturesque views of the Wild Atlantic Way and summited no less than seven mountains from Muckish Mountain to Errigal Mountain.

Northern Ireland international Gillian Wasson was a class act in the ladies race, moving clear early on and building on her lead as the race progressed.  The always impressive athlete covered the course in an excellent 7:42:40 for 1st place, winning by over an hour.

Billy Reed of East Antrim Harriers claimed a top ten finish in the men’s race, clocking 7:14:35 for 8th place.  Tim Lowry (Ballymena Runners), Dave Evans (BARF) and Ron Peacock (Unattached) were also amongst the familiar faces who claimed finished within the top twenty.  The ever-improving Tim finished in 8:07:53 (12th place), with Dave (8:54:48) and Ron (8:55:00) following in 17th place and 18th place respectively.

There was further success for local athletes in the half marathon, with Mark Alexander topping the men’s podium.  The respected Ballymena man covered the distance in 3:41:54 (1st place).  In the ladies race, Catherine McLaughlin of Glens Runners claimed 2nd place in 4:18:50.

Full results for the event are available HERE.

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